Revised plans for a King Kullen supermarket development in Tuckahoe have been presented to town officials by the owners of a several parcels of land on County Road 39, west of Southampton Village.

The new project, now called the Tuckahoe Center, calls for a 40,000-square-foot King Kullen, 15,000 square feet of retail storefronts, and a bank branch building, all on slightly more than 7 acres of land on the south side of County Road 39, just east of Magee Street. The project would require a change of zone, which must be approved by the Town Board.

The developer, Robert Morrow, and his partners, Lance Nil and Lyle Pike, have not filed a formal application with the town yet, but the plans will be reviewed—and open for public comment—at a Southampton Town Board work session on March 16 as part of the town’s pre-application process.

The proposal is a shadow of the nearly 120,000-square-foot development Mr. Morrow and his partners had proposed two years ago, which included more than 70,000 square feet of retail stores, restaurants and residential apartments, in addition to the supermarket. That project, dubbed Tuckahoe Main Street, died before the Town Board last year after staunch opposition from some Tuckahoe residents, as well as Southampton Village officials and business owners.

The revamped proposal still does not conform to the area’s highway business zoning, so the developers will need the Town Board to grant a change of zone, to a shopping center district, as well as a special exception permit from the Town Planning Board in order to proceed with their plans—both of which present significant regulatory and legal hurdles.

A shopping center district requires at least 5 acres of property and restricts development coverage to 20 percent of the property. It also requires 100-foot setbacks from the roadway, double what the property’s current zoning requires.

In an interview this week, Mr. Morrow said his project would meet the tougher setbacks and development restrictions, a fact he touted as a benefit, since it is less impactful than what would be allowed under current zoning. He also suggested that the highway business designation along the bulk of County Road 39 is outdated and detrimental to the aesthetic and economic characteristics of the region. The proposal, he said, could set the stage for a reconsideration of property development along the busy highway.

“This [project] should be the impetus for change along all of County Road 39,” Mr. Morrow said of the Tuckahoe Center proposal. “Somebody has to change it. Some of those buildings are vacant because of the economy, but most are vacant because they’re un-rentable. They’re a mess, and it’s getting worse. This is one of the most beautiful areas in the country, and to have this as your gateway is deplorable.”

According to the plans submitted to the town, a 100-foot-wide vegetated buffer would be largely recessed in a swale to capture rainwater runoff from the property and allow it to soak back into the ground. The project design sketches are available on the Southampton Town website. He also pledged to use solar panels on all buildings and light fixtures.

The highway business zone, of which much of the County Road 39 corridor was designated on the first zoning maps in 1976, allows for low-traffic businesses like car dealerships, appliance and furniture stores, and service supply businesses. The shopping center district is the only zoning designation that allows for supermarkets, with a maximum size of 40,000 square feet. Mr. Morrow acknowledged that the shopping center district designation has been applied only once before in the eastern portion of Southampton Town, to parts of the Bridgehampton Commons.

Mr. Morrow, Mr. Pike and Mr. Nil already own approximately 13 acres on four parcels north of the highway, about 8 acres of which is zoned only for residential development. The residential portion of the land is not part of the new proposal—portions of it had been used in the Tuckahoe Main Street plans—but the new proposal does include 1.7 acres that now houses a small motel and restaurant that the developers are in contract to buy if they are given the go-ahead for their plans.

Mr. Morrow said he has received favorable feedback from town officials and some residents since first introducing downsized plans in late 2010. But members of the Tuckahoe Citizens Advisory Committee panned the proposal, saying that the developers’ property was a poor site for a supermarket because it would add to already congested traffic along that stretch of highway.

Southampton Village Mayor Mark Epley, who had been a vocal opponent of the Tuckahoe Main Street proposal because of the feared impact on village retail businesses, said the new version does lessen some of the concerns that he and other village officials had, and could serve to relieve some of the traffic issues in the village by providing another supermarket option for residents beyond the single Waldbaum’s in the heart of the village.

They buried the white elephant's head but the huge rump is still exposed. EVERY SINGLE CREDIBLE STUDY OF THE DANGEROUS CR 39 NOT FINANCED BY A DEVELOPER HAS PROHIBITED A HIGH TRAFFIC BUSINESS LIKE A 40k SF SUPERMARKET. ONLY HIGHWAY BUSINESS IS ALLOWED AND MORROW KNEW THIS BEFORE HE BOUGHT IT HOPING TO BUY HIS WAY THROUGH POLITICAL CONTRIBUTIONS TO A CHANGE OF ZONING THAT EXPERTS HAVE SAID IS ILL ADVISED FOR THE SAFETY AND QUALITY OF LIFE OF THE RESIDENTS!

In heavy traffic and intense ...moreshopping activity during the summer, tractor trailer deliveries would bypass the bumper to bumper traffic of CR 39, and wind their way through many community roads, where our children are playing, biking, skateboarding and more.

Although reduced, the project is still anchored by that supermarket that experts have said repeatedly does not have a place on CR 39. Morrow keeps putting lipstick on a pig hoping that with some strategic donations, the pig will look like a beauty queen!

traffic and political concerns aside, who would want a King Kullen there? Their prices are the highest out here!! Waldbaums has the best prices, but the Southampton store is disgusting and cramped. Why not a Stop N Shop? They beat King Kullen and Waldbaums hands down in all categories.

The prices in Waldbaums are better than King Kullen? Have you been to either of them? Stop and Shop will NEVER build out here again because of the extortion they had to endure to build the supermarket in Hampton Bays. They were forced to pay more in permits and "suggested charitable contributions" than it cost them to develop the site and build the structure. This town is to thank for them not wanting anything to do with another store.

boston lettuce- kk - 1.59, waldbaums - 2.49vidalia onions- kk - 1.19 waldbaums - 1.29clementines - kk 1.80/lb waldbaums - 2.00/lbThese are the first three items I bought at king kullen the other day, I went online and here are their prices at waldbaums. Stop lying.

Though it may not please him to hear it, I am with bigfresh - NO!!! This whole plan smells rotten.

Anyone who is interested in knowing how rotten, read an excellent letter to the editor in today's SH Press that clearly spells out the revolving-door, crony-capitalism relationship between Morrow, the Town Board, and former Head of the Town Planning Department, Jefferson Murphree, who now works for the very firm that Mr. Morrow hired to write the recently submitted "Tuckahoe Shopping Center" ...moremarketing study (SH Press needs to tell that story)

Mr. Morrow is still asking to be granted a change of zoning. He is still asking to build 60,000 square feet of retail space (and a parking lot the size of Gabreski airport) in an area zoned Highway Business where buildings are limited to 10,000 to 15,000 square feet. He still arrogantly insists that he will be the one to pave the way for the conversion of CR 39 to a full-fledged suburban strip mall.

Take a look at the drawings. Does anyone really believe that a customer leaving this shopping center would be able to make a left turn onto CR 39? Seriously? Yet that is what it calls for. And if you live on Magee Street or Bishops lane or any other quiet side street in the vicinity, are you prepared to see your sleepy neighborhood turned into a semi-truck access road at 3 AM and hundreds of additional cars driving by your home each day?

Thanks for your comment progressnow, doesn't make me unhappy at all! I oppose this plan because we have more than enough traffic and development in our beautiful area as it is. Enough is enough. The developer is just a land speculator, as I have stated before, I hope the Town refuses this change of zone and proves that he's speculated incorrectly. There's no guarantee of a zone change.

Who does this guy think he is building what he wants on property he owns!? He only cares about eeeeevil profit and not the common good. Did this morrow guy have any outsourcing in his backround by any chance?

Hey, krispy, yeah he owns the property. When he bought it it was zoned hwy business. Still is. He can build whatever he wants, as long as it conforms to existing zoning. Smarminess is always cute, but facts is facts, dude, and the rules shouldn't change just because one developer wants them to

While the rules might make you feel all warm, fuzzy and secure, being told what to eat, what to drive and what you can do with your own property is not the way it should be. I would bet you don't live within 5 miles of this place but you are all uptight about it and the rules being followed. You wouldn't want the pool upsetting the superfund site under the oil wells and the glass place? You don't want a pool screwing with the charm and quaintness of the garbage bins behind citarella? I bet a ...morepool in this guy's front yard wouldn't hurt a sole, including you, just something to yenta about as the winter dies down.

Wow, Krispy, maybe you should try just a little harder to misrepresent the facts. Who is telling this guy what to do? He knowingly bought land zoned HWY business thinking that he could do whatever he pleases. But he cannot.

If I buy a house next door to you zoned residential and then tried to change the zoning to build a night club would you be happy with that?

If the property is already zoned some sort of commercial use, then why not ask to change the zone to something the community will actually use - like a grocery store? And the rules should change to accommodate a best use scenario - there are laws to change that in place. Listen, I remember a lady from Hampton Bays who fought and fought Stop and Shop. She literally all but laid her body in front of the bulldozers to stop it. We all heard "we don't want it", "we all hate the thought of it" on ...moreand on......

I see her every Sunday on the check out line swiping her SnS discount card and using coupons. A center like this won't create any additional traffic - it simply moves it around. Hampton Bays center has no issues with traffic other than what was already a problem - too many traffic lights in a small area.

Thank you BIGjimbo12. That is exactly how ALL of these stories end. And how this and the Glennon property will conclude. A vocal minority and some biz owners who cannot bare the thought of competition raise a stink until they lose. Then, it becomes all about getting the closest parking space. Fickle with a side order of short attention span.

BIGjimbo, I think you may be wrong on this one. Yes, the traffic around the HB Stop and Shop moves fine and the same may be the case for the Southampton Village proposal at flying point road, but the Tuckahoe project is different. Co Road 39 is a dangerous road and there are serious accidents there all the time, unlike Hampton Bays and the Southampton Village project which are not particularly dangerous, just congested. I think the traffic issues are ligament. I hate to disagree with you BIGjimbo ...morebecause you are such an expert on so many subjects, I assume you are one of the higher ups in the Obama administration, eh BIGjimbo?

Some of the folks posting here simply don't care what becomes of the town. They care only about convenience and are more than willing to encourage the town to change zoning to satisfy their wants.

Morrow would only be the beginning. Once you open the flood gates, you won't be able to hold back the tide.

And this has nothing to do with any nonsense about the free market or government telling a land owner what he can or cannot do. When you buy a piece of land you are agreeing ...moreto the zoning restrictions that come with it.

In Morrow's case, as with so many other developers, they feel they can make a few campaign donations, spread some money around and then do as they please. Everyone must play by the same rules.

Big fresh, I cannot remember the exact amount he gave ( it was in the thousands) but the worst part is that it was given after she was elected. Before the election he spread it around to everyone, then he targeted his pay-offs. The donation should never have been accepted

and rightfully so, xtiego. The only difference in the two projects is that Glennon is apparently paid up to the right politicians, and those behind the tuckahoe site are not. It's all about cronyism and crooked lawmakers at this point, NOT about whats best for the community.